Menachem Birnbaum (born 1893 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, died probably 1944), was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

book

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

and

portrait painter Portrait Painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commission, for public and pr ...

Life

Birnbaum was the second son of the Jewish philosopher

Nathan Birnbaum Nathan Birnbaum ( he, נתן בירנבוים; pseudonyms: "Mathias Acher", "Dr. N. Birner", "Mathias Palme", "Anton Skart", "Theodor Schwarz", and "Pantarhei"; 16 May 1864 – 2 April 1937) was an Austrian writer and journalist, Jewish thinker a ...

and his wife Rosa Korngut. Birnbaum married Ernestine (Tina) Esther Helfmann, with whom he had two children: Rafael Zwi and Hana. Birnbaum lived in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

from 1911 until 1914, and again from 1919 until 1933.

Exile, deportation and death

In 1933 he emigrated to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. In the spring of 1943 he was arrested by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

along with his relatives and transported on 10 March 1943 to a Nazi concentration camp, presumably

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

. Menachem was seen alive and spoken to in Auschwitz in October 1944 by a Dutch Jewish survivor, who told about it to his brother

Uriel Birnbaum Uriel Birnbaum (November 13, 1894, in Vienna − December 9, 1956, in Amersfoort, Netherlands) was an Austrian painter, caricaturist, writer and poet. Biography Birnbaum was the youngest son of Nathan Birnbaum, a Jewish philosopher, and Rosa Kor ...

in Holland after WW2. He must therefore have died between October 1944 and January 27, 1945, when Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviets. His family - Tina, Rafael Zwi, and Hana Birnbaum - were killed earlier, probably in Auschwitz as well. It is likely that he died during or just before the Death March from Auschwitz in mid-January, 1945. This would mean that the theory of him dying in March 1943 in the

Sobibor extermination camp Sobibor (, Polish: ) was an extermination camp built and operated by Nazi Germany as part of Operation Reinhard. It was located in the forest near the village of Żłobek Duży in the General Government region of German-occupied Poland. As ...

is incorrect, a theory based solely on an unconfirmed assumption by the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

that the trains from the German holding camp at

Westerbork Camp Westerbork ( nl, Kamp Westerbork, german: Durchgangslager Westerbork, Drents: ''Börker Kamp; Kamp Westerbörk'' ), also known as Westerbork transit camp, was a Nazi transit camp in the province of Drenthe in the Northeastern Netherlands, ...

, Holland were sent to Sobibor on the day of his arrest and deportation.

Works

* ''Das Hohe Lied'' (The High Song), Berlin 1912 * ''Der Aschmedaj'' (Humorous periodical), Berlin-Warsaw 1912 * ''

Schlemiel Schlemiel ( yi, שלומיאל; sometimes spelled shlemiel or shlumiel) is a Yiddish term meaning "inept/incompetent person" or "fool". It is a common archetype in Jewish humor, and so-called "''schlemiel'' jokes" depict the ''schlemiel'' falling i ...

'' (Humorous periodical), Berlin 1919-1920 (Schriftleitung des künstlerischen Teils) * ''Chad Gadjo'', Berlin 1920 * ''Chad Gadjo'', Scheveningen 1935 * ''Menachem Birnbaum Zeigt'', Den Haag 1937 * Numerous book cover/jacket designs, portrait drawings.

Literature

* Kitty Zijlmans, ''Jüdische Künstler im Exil: Uriel und Menachem Birnbaum''; in: Hans Wuerzner (Hg.), ''Österreichische Exilliteratur in den Niederlanden 1934-1940'', Amsterdam 1986

References

External links

*
''Das jüdische Jugendbuch''
a digitized children's book illustrated by Birnbaum at the Leo Baeck Institute, New York {{DEFAULTSORT:Birnbaum, Menachem 1893 births 1944 deaths Artists from Vienna Austrian Jews who died in the Holocaust Austrian artists Austrian people who died in Auschwitz concentration camp Austrian illustrators Jewish artists